Former Kentucky Wildcats forward Nerlens Noel, left, and guard Julius Mays, right, were back in Lexington and offered advice to some current players. / Mark Zerof, USA TODAY Sports

by Kyle Tucker, USA TODAY Sports

by Kyle Tucker, USA TODAY Sports

LEXINGTON, KY. - Three former University of Kentucky basketball players were back in town Monday for coach John Calipari's youth camp and they offered their impressions of - and advice to - the next crop of Wildcats. The gist of the message from Nerlens Noel, Archie Goodwin and Julius Mays, all of whom were on last season's underachieving team: this new group is loaded, but they better listen to Calipari.

"I've worked out with them a few times. From what I've seen, they've got all the talent in the world," Mays said. "Like I told them: If they can all check their egos at the door â?¦ they're going to be real dangerous."

The 2013-14 Cats will include sophomores Alex Poythress and Willie Cauley-Stein, who passed up first-round money in the NBA draft to return to school, and six incoming McDonald's All-American freshmen. Goodwin said Julius Randle, the nation's top-rated power forward recruit, stands out most.

"He's a competitive guy just like I was, in the gym every night just like I was," Goodwin said. "I feel like with the team that they have this year, just the talent alone is going to win a championship. It's just a matter of them meshing together. Their competitive spirit is going to be there because it's just too many guys on this team that hate to lose. I feel like they're going to do some special things."

Goodwin's team also entered last season with high hopes, welcoming the No. 1 recruiting class and ranked third in the preseason polls. That all fell apart quickly, though, and the season ended with a thud: a first-round loss in the National Invitation Tournament. Noel's advice to this group:

"Establish team chemistry early on in the year and make sure a leader steps up," he said, "because a young team like that, they're especially going to need a leader that's always going to keep them like a rock-solid team and always keep those guys composed. At times, you're under a lot of pressure, but I have to say they're in a good position right now."

Noel also agreed with Goodwin's recommendation.

"My biggest advice would be to listen to what Coach Cal says and not how he says it," Goodwin said. "I feel like last year we had a couple guys that, when he said things, the way he said it really put guys down because they're not used to the way he coaches. It's kind of hard to get used to that coming from high school where you're able to do whatever you want. But if they just listen to what he says instead of how he says it, they'll be just fine."

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Kyle Tucker also writes for The Louisville Courier-Journal, a Gannett property.